Only two events are left to secure a PGA Tour card.
There are two events left in the FedEx Cup Fall, which means only two more chances for golfers to lock up their card for the 2025 season.
Austin Eckroat won for the second time this year behind a final-round 9-under 63, topping Carson Young and Justin Lower by a shot. Eckroat finished in the top 50 during the regular season, so he’s in the signature events in 2025 but now gets into the Masters.
However, Joe Highsmith moved inside the top 125 with his fifth-place finish. He and Daniel Berger were the lone two players to move into the top 125 after the World Wide Technology Championship.
Any golfer who finishes Nos. 51-60 in the FedEx Cup standings will earn entry into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational, the first two signature events of 2025. Those who finished inside of the top 125 will earn their PGA Tour cards for 2025.
Hayden Springer is now the “bubble boy” in the 125th spot.
With the win, Eckroat will take home $1.296 million. He finished the regular season in the top 50. He also earned a ticket back to the Masters with the win.
We’re 18 holes away from crowning a winner of the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, and the top of the leaderboard is as congested as Los Angeles traffic.
Justin Lower, Nico Echavarria and Carson Young are tied for the lead at 16 under, but there are three players tied for fourth at 15 under and two more at 14 under. A large group is primed to pounce if the leaders hit a few speed bumps during their rounds Sunday.
Echavarria, a 30-year-old from Colombia, won the Zozo Championship in Japan two weeks ago, his second PGA Tour win in as many seasons (2023 Puerto Rico Open). Now he’s just one round away from winning in back-to-back starts and a career-changing year.
Some of the names hoping to make a charge over the last dozen-and-a-half holes are Austin Eckroat (15 under), Max Greyserman (15 under) and Maverick McNealy (14 under).
If you missed any of the action Saturday, no worries we have you covered. Here are a few things to know from the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship.
Nico Echavarria of Colombia walks from the fourth tee during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
It’s tough to travel across the world and play consistent golf, but don’t tell Echavarria that. Two weeks ago he was in Japan hoisting hardware at the Zozo. Now, he’s more than 6,300 miles away, once again in position to earn a trophy.
He started with a birdie at the par-5 first on Saturday and added one more before making the turn with a 2-under 34. On his way home, Echavarria birdied Nos. 10 and 12, and made six straight pars to close his day.
“There’s going to be nerves (on Sunday), it’s normal,” he told the media after signing his card. “I’ve been in this position luckily, I’ve gotten it done. It’s just a matter of being calm, controlling the nerves because there are going to be nerves. Hopefully there’s wind because I like playing in wind. I think I can manage the wind pretty well out here. So we’ll see. I won’t change my strategy, but maybe good golf will be enough.”
The last player to win back-to-back starts on Tour was Rory McIlroy earlier this year at the Zurich Classic and Truist Championship (formally known as the Wells Fargo).
Justin Lower looks for No. 1
Justin Lower plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Lower is a name you’re probably not used to seeing on the leaderboard as he’s still looking for his first Tour win. He’s been in the mix a decent amount this year with six top-25 finishes and three top-10s. But through three rounds south of the border, he’s in position to finally put a tally in the win column.
The 35-year-old opened the WWTC with a ho-hum 2-under 70, but has reached another level with his game posting rounds of 67-63 over the last two days. He hit every fairway in regulation and missed just one green on Saturday, paving the way for his bogey-free 9-under gem.
“Everything,” Lower said when asked what a win would mean to him. “I don’t know. Yeah, I mean, there’s 18 holes tomorrow on a very scoreable golf course. I think the wind’s going to stay down again, so I have to go out and basically shoot probably somewhere between 5 and 9 under again. I mean, it’s just the way the scores are out here. If the wind’s down, scores are going to be low.
“Yeah, a win would mean everything. I still have a job to do.”
Is it Mav’s time?
Maverick McNealy plays his shot from the sixth tee during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Maverick McNealy has the game to be a four-, five-time winner on Tour, he’s just gotta get his first. McNealy, who withdrew from the Zozo Championship before the second round due to illness in his last start, has flirted with victory several times this year, including a T-3 finish at the 3M Open. However, he’s yet to get it over the finish line.
He’ll have a chance on Sunday thanks to rounds of 66-67 after opening the tournament with a 3-under 69 on Thursday.
The 28-year-old made the turn with a 1-under 35 on Day 3, and went on to add three birdies and a bogey on the back before finishing his third round with an eagle on the par-5 closer.
Maverick McNealy reads the break on 18 perfectly for EAGLE and a round of 66! 🔥🦅
He’ll enter the final round two shots back of the lead.
Checking in with some familiar names
Daniel Berger of the United States plays a second shot on the 15th hole during the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 at El Cardonal at Diamante on November 08, 2024 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Daniel Berger, 12 under (T-9)
Wesley Bryan, 12 under (T-9)
Joel Dahmen, 11 under (T-14)
Matt Kuchar, 11 under (T-14)
Harris English, 9 under (T-30)
Harry Higgs, 7 under (T-38)
Top 10 and odds to win
Position
Player
Score
Odds to win
T-1
Justin Lower
16 under
(+500)
T-1
Nico Echavarria
16 under
(+450)
T-1
Carson Young
16 under
(+550)
T-4
Joe Highsmith
15 under
(+850)
T-4
Austin Eckroat
15 under
(+700)
T-4
Max Greyserman
15 under
(+450)
T-7
Ben Griffin
14 under
(+1200)
T-7
Maverick McNealy
14 under
(+1100)
T-9
David Lipsky
12 under
(+15000)
T-9
Daniel Berger
12 under
(+7500)
T-9
Wesley Bryan
12 under
(+11000)
T-9
Ryan McCormick
12 under
(+17000)
T-9
Tom Hoge
12 under
(+6500)
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3413″ ]
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Robert Garrigus headed home early on Friday from the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, but the fact that he got into the field in the first place is a story worth telling.
When Garrigus failed to Monday qualify, he stuck around for a vacation with his girlfriend. But then Cameron Young withdrew allowing Sean O’Hair to get into the field. O’Hair was on the range on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, Bud Cauley withdrew but neither Cody Gribble, the next player on the alternate list, nor 33 other players ahead of him could get a flight to Cabo before the first round tee time on Thursday. One caddie said he got a text from Jim Herman back at home saying, “Good news, I’m in. Bad news, I can’t get there.” The only option at the time was to fly private and that would be a pretty steep investment at that late time. Eventually, Garrigus got the call that he was in.
It marked just his second Tour start of the season and first since the Cognizant Classic in March. Garrigus’ girlfriend even served as his caddie but Garrigus’ good fortune didn’t result in a payday. He shot 79-76 and missed the cut.
Garrigus was the 34th alternate for the event on Friday when the field was finalized at 5 p.m. ET. It took 33 players ahead of him to withdraw but that’s how Garrigus, who was in the right place at the right time, made it in the WWT field off the alternate list.
Luke Donald, the 2023 and 2025 European Ryder Cup captain, was forced to withdraw from the PGA Tour’s 2024 World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico on Saturday due to a back injury.
Donald shot rounds of 72-69 to turn in a two-day total of 3 under, a shot better than the 36-hole cut of 2 under. During the third round, the Englishman was even par through 13 holes — he started his day on hole No. 10 — with three birdies, a bogey and double bogey on the card before calling it a tournament.
In just six previous 2024 starts, Donald’s T-68 finish at the PGA Championship was his only made cut.
A shot back is Carson Young. Then there’s Dylan Wu in solo fourth at 10 under.
On the wrong end of the leaderboard sits an interesting group of notables who missed the cut. Time is running out for those seeking to secure status in 2025 with just two events left after this one.
The WWTC has a total purse of $7.2 million with $1.296 million of that going into the winner’s bank account. This week’s champion will also receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a two-year PGA Tour exemption.
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The purse is $7.2 million with $1.296 million going to the winner.
Taylor Montgomery had a Hall of Famer caddie for half his round Thursday. With his dad needing to bow out after nine holes, former Major Leaguer Larry Walker picked up the bag and finished the day for Montgomery, who shot 4-under 68 and sits a shot off the lead after 18 holes.
There are three tied for the lead at 5 under: Tom Whitney, Rico Hoey and Kevin Streelman. Montgomery is tied with a slew of golfers for fourth, including tournament defending champion Erik van Rooyen.
The purse at the World Wide Technology Championship is $7.2 million with $1.296 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a two-year PGA Tour exemption. It’s the third-to-last event in 2024.
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Montgomery’s dad had to bow out after nine holes in Los Cabos, Mexico.
LOS CABOS, Mexico – Taylor Montgomery is desperate for a good week on the PGA Tour. Desperate enough that he asked his father, Monte, the director of golf at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, to be his caddie at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship. But it turned out to be a Hall of Fame outfielder who would lug his bag to the finish on Thursday as Montgomery’s dad had to bow out after his son got off to a hot start on a sunny but breezy day at El Cardonal at Diamante.
Montgomery made birdies on the first three holes and seven in all to shoot 4-under 68 at the golf course designed by Tiger Woods, and one stroke off the pace set by rookie Tom Whitney.
Montgomery had missed three cuts and withdrew after one round at the Sanderson Farms Championship during the FedEx Cup Fall and has slipped to No. 132 in the season-long points race. This week is one of three remaining events and Montgomery is running out of time to squeeze his way into the top 125. The 29-year-old Las Vegas resident asked his dad, who caddied for him here last year, to be by his side inside the ropes along with a sizable entourage this week that also includes his mom, sister, fiancée and a couple of former baseball stars.
“I love it here,” said Montgomery, a World Wide Technology ambassador, of Diamante. “It feels like a second home.”
Good thing one of the homeowners was out following him on Thursday morning because his dad wasn’t feeling up to par yesterday when Montgomery’s pro-am team included baseball great Roger Clemens. Monte rallied to the tee bright and early for the first round but he only made it nine holes. That’s when he tapped out and handed over the bag to another Major League Baseball star, Larry Walker, the 57-year-old former outfielder who enjoyed a 17-year career with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals. Walker visited Diamante one time and bought a house.
“I’m here half the year,” Walker said. “I’m not here because it’s a lousy place. The food, the weather, the people. That could be in a different order every day.”
The 11th green during the first round of the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
On this day, he carried Montgomery’s bag and they didn’t skip a beat as Montgomery added birdies at Nos. 10 and 11. “But then he made a double,” Walker said, his face slumping with disappointment as if it was all his fault.
Montgomery tacked on birdies at Nos. 15 and 18 to post 68, his fifth straight sub-70 course at Diamante.
“It kind of fits my eye, I guess. I’m just used to looking at the desert a lot,” Montgomery said.
When his family entered The Woods: Cabo, the clubhouse restaurant, Clemens congratulated them on Walker’s fine work in getting him to the house.
The 2024 World Wide Technology Championship — the first of three straight weeks of PGA Tour action before the league takes a break until 2025 — gets underway Thursday at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico. This is the second year the Tiger Woods design will play host.
Cameron Young was the biggest name in the field entering the week, but he withdrew from the event on Wednesday. Some of the names teeing it up on Thursday are Lucas Glover, Keith Mitchell, Maverick McNealy, Beau Hossler and defending champion Erik van Rooyen.
This week’s winner will go home with $1.296 million of the $7.2 million purse, as well as 500 FedEx Cup points.
Here are some of the best photos from the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.
LOS CABOS, Mexico – Erik van Rooyen glanced at the oversized photo of him hanging in the back of the media center. There he is, clenching both fists and letting loose a guttural cry of celebration after holing a 20-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship. Van Rooyen smiled and the memory of his heartwarming victory a year ago came rushing back.
“It’s pretty scary, man. Yeah, that’s a lot of emotion in a short space of time,” he said during his Tuesday press conference to kick off festivities at the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Fall event. “I think, you know, I pour my heart and soul into this sport like a lot of us do. Yeah, that win last year meant so much.”
Van Rooyen stormed home in 8-under 28 at the course Tiger Woods designed and erased a two-stroke deficit with three holes to play to win for the second time on the PGA Tour and do it for his terminally-ill friend. Moments later, van Rooyen hugged his caddie and former college teammate Alex Gaugert and both men broke into tears. Only a few days earlier, their fellow teammate at the University of Minnesota, Jon Trasamar, had informed them his cancer had returned and spread throughout his body. It was only a matter of time before his cancer fight would be over. Van Rooyen and Trasamar were college roommates for three years, teaming to win the 2014 Big 10 Championship, and Trasamar was van Rooyen’s best man in his wedding.
“He was like a brother to me,” said van Rooyen, who scribbled the initials “JT” on his ball all week.
After the win, van Rooyen canceled their flight to the next tournament in Bermuda and he and Gaugert flew home the next day and visited with their pal one last time. Trasamar died just days later on Nov. 11 from stage 4 melanoma at age 33.
Asked what he learned from his remarkable back-nine run to the winner’s circle, van Rooyen said, “I think I learned that I’m never quite out of it. I was four back going into the back nine. I know for a fact my mom and dad went to sleep when that happened in South Africa. They didn’t have faith. Yeah, I think regardless of how many I’m back, I think I’m always within a shot, so that gives me a ton of confidence.”
He added: “I’ve spoken about Jon a lot, but another thing I learned was even though this game means so much to me, it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. So there’s much bigger things in life and that’s a lesson I’ve carried with me these last 12 months.”
Van Rooyen and his friends have established a scholarship in his name at the University of Minnesota.
This marks the first time van Rooyen has been able to defend a tournament he has won as a professional. He noted he arrived back a better player than a year ago when he was struggling to maintain his Tour card. Van Rooyen entered the week at No. 125 in the point standings and on the cusp of losing his playing privileges as his two-year exemption from winning the Barracuda Championship was set to expire. Van Rooyen sits at No. 67 in the point standings this season and called it his most consistent season. His game has improved across the board since he started working with swing instructor Sean Foley last year, and he’s particularly proud of the strides he’s made with his short game, which always had been a weakness.
Can the stars align for a repeat victory? Following his win at the SAS Championship last month, PGA Tour Champions player Jerry Kelly paid tribute to Trasamar. (Kelly’s niece Ali is Trasamar’s widow.) Van Rooyen may face a stouter test, especially on Thursday when the wind is forecasted to gust to more than 20 miles per hour, but he’s confident he can win another for JT.
“It came down to putting,” van Rooyen said of his victory a year ago. “If we get a bit of wind, it might be a different story this week, but if not, I’m a great putter, so I think all in all the course sets up beautifully for me.”
